While there was no doubt that Bradley Hill and Michael Walters would star in AFLX, the Fremantle squad that competed in the inaugural tournament at Hindmarsh Stadium had a handful of surprise packets in the young side.
Half of the 10-man Freo line-up in the opening game against Geelong are yet to make their AFL debut, and although the Cats ran-out 17-point winners in the opening game, assistant coach Anthony Rock said he was impressed by the output from of Stefan Giro, Tom North, Mitch Crowden, Taylin Duman and Bailey Banfield
“We certainly got what we wanted out of AFLX in spades,” Rock said.
“In the first game, we had a younger side and they played against an experienced side in the Cats.
“They zoned well and while we didn’t work hard enough to get forward and get equal numbers, I thought the energy from some of our new draftees was really positive.”
This included Giro, who opened Freo’s scoring in the first minute by sidestepping Geelong's Mark Blicavs and snapping a goal and adding a 10-point ‘Zooper’ goal later in the half.
In the second game against Port Adelaide, Fremantle went for experience, however new draftee Andrew Brayshw didn’t look out of place in the side.
Working well with the hard-running Hill and Walters, Fremantle finished 17-point winners.
“As soon as Andy came into the club you could see he’s going to be a leader,” Rock said.
“He’s going to be the guy who leads from the front, and also out on the training track he works hard.
“For a guy playing against quality opposition he showed a level head, he’s a quality player and we need him to keep growing week by week.”
Rock paid credit to the team’s hard work as many on the Freo list round out their first pre-season.
“All of our draftees have come in shwoing great character and leadership,” Rock said.
“They have followed the program and that’s what we require to be successful, that they have really bought into the program.
“What they are doing is putting the older and more experienced guys on notice saying ‘hang on, we are coming up and we want to pinch your spot’.
"So it’s great for internal pressure, it’s great for our fans to see and it’s great for our football club.”
